The cyberspace community has stretched the First Amendment of the Constitution to its limit. Emilio Bombay answers a question posed by a reader: "What is the law regarding the viewing of explicit material on the Internet? I don't want to get dragged off to jail by the cyberpolice" (210). Bombay's response to this question is his short essay, "Would You View This with Your Mother?" My reaction to this paper is influenced by my Christian background. I'm the daughter of an ordained minister, and this greatly influences my thoughts on "viewing sexually explicit material on the Internet" (210). Bombay does not give serious attention to the major problem of pornography on the Internet. His essay almost makes a joke of a matter that is serious in the minds of many. He also warns us about our lack of privacy. I choose to focus on the pornography issue of this essay because, while I think privacy is important, I also believe that we will have to be tolerant with officials who police the web. Pornography is a more important issue than privacy at this time.
While Bombay's essay does not condone viewing pornography, it fails to consider the seriousness of this matter, which is right now on its way to a Supreme Court trial. Sexual material on the Internet is easily accessible to anyone of any age. Many times pornographic sites pretend to be something that they are not. I frequently receive Emails that give the appearance of being from a friend when they are actually a link to a pornography site. Bombay's main point in this essay appears to be, "I'd say it's pretty much legal until your mother catches you" (210). Nothing will be accomplished with an attitude like this.
I have been raised to believe that pornography in any form is wrong. Child pornography is being advertised all over the web along with the adult pornography. The companies that have created these websites are currently arguing with the Supreme Court as to whether it is actually child pornography if a depicted child is not real. This idea baffles me. Apparently, the pornography industry can create a child on their computer. Pornographic scenes might not be based on real children, but they are still disgusting. However, the right to produce these images is one of the issues presently being debated.
Pornography is a very serious problem. I believe in freedom of speech, but I can't stretch the First Amendment to say that pornography is permissible. Bombay is on the right track in his opinions, but he loses his impact with his constant joking in the article. Lewdness is not an issue that can be covered with cuteness and jokes. It needs to be confronted firmly and with as much conviction as possible. I feel that people who share my beliefs have failed to convince others with their views. Every time we turn our backs on this problem, it grows worse. George Washington is probably turning in his grave at what we have allowed to happen.
This country was founded on the principles of religious freedom. Our national pledge still proclaims us as one nation under God. We turn to God in our times of crises, but when a crisis is over we become hypocrites again. I could never be unbiased on this issue because my beliefs are so strong. How much further are we going to allow the First Amendment to stretch? If we continue in the way in which we are going, then we need to change all those dollar bills that say "In God we Trust." The pornography Industry has already gone too far. When people start creating digital children in order to continue producing child pornography, this country has a major problem. Sacrificing our privacy is a small price to pay to get rid of some of the pernicious effects of this problem.
Bombay makes the following statement:
And, if you are a perv, and you think that ruling gives you the right to collect patently illegal smut like child porn. just send me your address and I'll come over and perform a little programming your computer will never forget. (210)
Pornographers might not want to send their addresses to me, because I won't bother with programming their computers. I do not believe pornography is an issue to taken lightly. Maybe mothers know what their pornography-loving children do and maybe they don't. I believe that God knows, and if mothers don't catch on to such misdeeds, then I am sure that He will.
Bombay, Emilio. "Would You View This with Your Mother?" CyberReader. 2nd ed. Ed. Victor J. Vitanza. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. 122-123.
Megan Schlicht
Links to my writing samples:
Back to my home page
Summary response
Argumentative analysis
Research perspective
My résumé